Women’s Six Nations 2026: Finishing tournament with two home wins would be ‘huge’ for Ireland – Gareth Stinson

Ireland kicking coach Gareth Stinson says it will be “huge” for the squad to end the Women’s Six Nations with two home wins after last weekend’s disappointing defeat to France.

Chasing a first win on French soil, Ireland did not concede three tries during a dominant first-half display against the hosts in Clermont on Saturday. took control after the interval to win 26-7.

Ireland host Wales in Belfast on May 9 before welcoming Scotland to the Aviva Stadium on May 17 and beating Italy 57–20 in their first home game in Galway.

“We make no bones about it, three home wins was the target at the start and can finish and maybe put in a big performance and try to get one away from home,” Stenson told BBC Sport NI.

“It’s got to be where the group is. You’ve got to go and win. The ability is there.

“I think the way the matches went. England played that big game early on and it was good to get us into that competition to see where we’re at. Then we went to Galway and gave that performance against a good Italian side, scored seven tries in the first half. The situation was tough but we coped with it very well.

“And then to put up the fight we had (in France), it lined up like you needed to play two good Test matches that were as tough as those girls experienced.

“The weekend has come at a good time for us. We can probably touch on a few things leading up to the Wales game in Belfast. We hope we get a good support there because the girls are playing a really good brand of rugby and they are feeding off the crowd.”